National Government Affairs

Protecting Free Enterprise

ABC National, comprised of 69 Chapters representing nearly 21,000 members across the country, is the voice of Merit Shop.
They work to protect free enterprise by fighting anti-competitive and anti-free market federal regulations.

ABC National leads the fight each year against project labor agreements which effectively restrict merit shop contractors from bidding and working on construction projects, thereby dramatically driving up the cost on all public construction. Their project “The Truth About Project Labor Agreements” or thetruthaboutplas.com, takes the lead on this issue to expose wasteful and discriminatory PLA mandates, which are heavily supported by President Obama.

To date, ABC National has effectively restricted PLA mandates in 21 states. Seventeen states have passed legislation to oppose this discriminatory practice enacted by President Obama through Executive Order 13502 in February 2009, which encourages federal agencies to require PLAs on federal construction projects costing more than $25 million, effectively excluding the two-thirds majority open shop workforce in each state.

ABC Talking Points

ABC PAC is the 2nd largest construction-related PAC; The National Association of Home Builders is the 1st.

ABC PAC raised a record $2.1 million during the 2007-2008 election cycle and has raised roughly $1.6 million during 2013-2014 cycle.

During the 2013-2014 cycle, ABC PAC contributed to 261 candidates running for the House (234) and Senate (27), 13 Leadership PACs, 4 national party committees and the federal accounts of 10 state parties.

Of the candidates that ABC PAC supported, 89.9% percent were successfully elected to Congress.